EDDM vs. Direct Mail: What’s the Best Option for Your Business?

When creating a direct mail campaign, it's essential to determine what direct mail strategy is the most effective for your business. The choice of direct mail pieces you will be dealing with is an integral part of it.

While many organizations prefer sending direct/bulk mail, there is also another, less expensive option - Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM.) 

Both direct mail and EDDM have their pros and cons. Therefore, which option is best for your business will depend on your particular target and the factors you consider the most important.

Below, we will look at the main distinctions between Every Door Direct Mail and traditional direct mail in terms of affordability, design options, reliability, response rate, and more below.

Direct Mail vs. EDDM: Strategies Differences

The primary difference lies in the audience that receives the mail. EDDM, provided by the United States Post Office, is more location-based targeting, where the sender chooses particular mailing routes from the United States Postal Service (USPS) to have their brochures, flyers, and postcards delivered to. Each address on that route receives the mail.

Direct mail suggests that the sender provides the individual addresses to have their flyers/promotions/brochures sent. This strategy involves mailing lists. 

For instance, if you want to sell a product to new homeowners in their early forties, there is a mailing list consisting of people that fit your target age, race, income level, gender, and other criteria available for purchase. 

This allows your targeted campaign to focus only on those individuals you believe will have the highest response rate.

Direct Mail vs. EDDM: Sizes and Design Options

Due to USPS sizing requirements, you can only mail pieces qualified as flats via EDDM. These flats must meet the following size dimensions:

• Minimum 6.125 inches by 11.5 inches 
• Maximum 12 inches by 15 inches 
• No more than 0.75 inches thick.

In this battle, direct or bulk mail is an undisputed champion, offering greater flexibility in designing your mail piece. Three categories are available: 

• Flats with a minimum of 11.5 inches by 6.125 inches and a maximum of 15 inches by 12 inches 
• Postcards with a minimum of 5 inches by 3.5 inches and a maximum of 6 inches by 4.25 inches 
• Letters with a minimum of 5 inches by 3.5 inches and a maximum of 11.5 by 6.125 inches.

Direct Mail vs. EDDM: Quantity

The minimum quantity of mail pieces for both EDDM and bulk mailing options is 200. There is only a difference in the maximum available quantity. As for Every Door Direct Mail, you are able to send up to 5,000 mail pieces. With direct mail, there are no limits on the number of mailers you can send.

Direct Mail vs. EDDM: Affordability

If your primary criterion is affordability and you are just looking for a more cost-efficient option, then Every Door Direct Mail is the right choice for you.

The EDDM postage costs vary from $0.154 to $0.176 per piece, whereas direct mail prices vary from $0.255 to $0.539 per piece (standard mail.)

Direct Mail vs. EDDM: Delivery Time

The average delivery time for traditional direct mail is four to six days. As for Every Door Direct Mail, you'll have to wait a bit longer: six to eight days. Mind that, unlike direct mail, your EDDM pieces cannot be tracked.

Direct Mail vs. EDDM: Response Rates

Compared to EDDM, whose average response rate is 1%, direct mail receives higher response rates of 2-3%. 

There is also another statistic: according to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), targeted direct mail achieves a 4.4% response rate. 

One of the key factors that influence these figures is personalization. Due to the direct mail designs and sizes options available, the response rate of your mailer may increase.

Direct Mail vs. EDDM: Reliability

Unlike direct mail, EDDM doesn’t require purchasing a mailing list. Instead, each piece is grouped by carrier route and addressed to the “Local Postal Customer.” 

A facing slip on top of each EDDM bundle tells the carrier the route those mailers should go. In case the facing slip has been damaged or lost, there is no way to know which address to deliver that bundle of mail. This may result in a bunch of pieces not being sent and wasted postage money.

The situation is different with direct mail, which implies a physical address on each piece, which almost ensures successful delivery.

Direct Mail vs. EDDM: Frequency

Frequency is essential for both Every Door Direct Mail and bulk mail. To attract more of your target customers and get more responses, you should repeat your mail campaigns. 

While making up a strategy for a successful campaign, you need to figure out a direct mail frequency that balances your goals with your resources.

There is no exact ideal direct mail frequency. However, one occasion is definitely not enough to promote your services. After a single campaign, it is easy to get discouraged when you don't see results immediately. 

It has been proved that continuous marketing engages consumers and encourages them to work with you. Persistence and frequency are the keys to success in both EDDM and direct mail.

Direct Mail vs. EDDM: Audience Segmentation

As EDDM implies no mailing lists, you can’t segment your audience and remove unwanted addresses (except PO boxes and business addresses.) Your mail pieces are delivered to each address on the mailing routes or within a particular zip code.

When using a direct mail option, you can easily go on with removing PO boxes, business addresses, as well as some residential addresses.

What does removing unnecessary addresses from your mailing list mean for your business? Skipping addresses you don't want to target may improve response rates. 

Direct Mail vs. EDDM: Messaging and Personalization

Personalization is an excellent way to build a relationship with your customers. With a vast number of mailers people receive every day, you really have a few seconds to grab their attention and communicate your brand and offer so that a person will be interested. 

Unlike EDDM, targeted direct mail allows you to make highly personalized mail pieces that create an opportunity to build a connection. This is certainly the main reason for the higher response rates. Check out some of the no-lose personalization options:

• Add the recipient’s name at the top of your direct mail piece. This is a pretty straightforward but effective way to make a person feel more welcoming and like the piece is made just for them to view. 
• You can add a personalized QR code, which will serve as a special invitation to the recipient's own personalized landing page. Having both a mailer and your website or offer in their hands increases chances for cooperation.
• Create a personalized offer. Adding a person's name or location implies a real VIP experience! Instead of "Save30," you can add "BobSave30." One more clue: this is also an excellent way to track the ROI of your campaign by checking who used their promo code or offer.
• Make your mail interactive. What about adding giant stickers to your direct mail postcards? Maybe you should go for innovative decisions and try AR prints. If you are a cosmetics brand, then testers or free product samples will definitely hit the target and engage your potential customers. There are tons of creative solutions for making your mail interactive. 

Direct Mail vs. EDDM: Which One Should You Choose for Your Business?

While direct mail seems to be a better option in most of the categories listed above, there are a number of instances where Every Door Direct Mail makes more sense or is even better.

For instance, EDDM is a more cost-effective option. If your main goal is saving up, it perfectly fits the bill.

Also, EDDM works particularly well for campaigns targeting a specific geographic area. It's an ideal choice for attorneys, gyms/fitness, health clinics, house cleaning, electricians, car washes, insurance agents, and other local businesses.

A hassle-free and quick process is one more benefit of EDDM. All you need to do is print and send your mailer to the post office.

Depending on your particular target and the factors you consider the most, both EDDM and direct mail can be beneficial to building your brand awareness and engaging more consumers. In case of any doubt, it's best to work with a direct mail expert to decide which strategy is the best for your campaign.